2003 Japanese general election

November 9, 2003
All 480 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan 241 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	59.85% (2.64pp; Const. votes) 59.80% (2.64pp; PR votes)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Junichiro Koizumi Naoto Kan Takenori Kanzaki Party LDP Democratic Komeito Last election 233 seats 149 seats[a] 31 seats Seats won 237 177 34 Seat change 4 28 3 Constituency vote 26,089,327 21,814,154 886,507 % and swing 43.85% (2.88pp) 36.66% (9.05pp) 1.49% (0.53pp) Regional vote 20,660,185 22,095,636 8,733,444 % and swing 34.96% (6.65pp) 37.39% (12.21pp) 14.78% (1.81pp)   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Kazuo Shii Takako Doi Party Communist Social Democratic Last election 20 seats 19 seats Seats won 9 6 Seat change 11 13 Constituency vote 4,837,953 1,708,672 % and swing 8.13% (3.95pp) 2.87% (0.93pp) Regional vote 4,586,172 3,027,390 % and swing 7.76% (3.47pp) 5.12% (4.24pp)
Districts and PR districts, shaded according to winners' vote strength
Prime Minister before election Junichiro Koizumi LDP Elected Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi LDP

General elections were held in Japan on November 9, 2003. Current Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the Liberal Democratic Party won the most seats in the House of Representatives but did not win a majority. The main opposition Democratic Party won many seats, winning 177 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives, its largest share ever.

• BBC – Japanese election guide
• LDP bloc weathers DPJ onslaught Archived 2005-05-05 at the Wayback Machine The Japan Times